Sunday, December 27, 2009

NIMBY:

No Room at the Inn for Anything

I viewed with mixed emotions the recent news that Diane Feinstein is introducing legislation to protect a million acres of the Mojave Desert from construction of solar and wind power plants. On the one hand, it is occasionally nice to see some technology other than nuclear power picked on. On the other hand, if you can't put solar collectors in what is arguably the ideal location for them, what are our prospects for accomplishing anything?

Thinking about the NIMBYism involved here reminded me of a list I started compiling from various sources some time ago of all the variants of "not in my backyard." I offer that list today as my gift of the season:

BANANA = build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone (can also be read as: build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything)CAVEs or CAVEmen = citizens against virtually everythingGOOMBA = get out of my business areaGOOMBY = get out of my backyardLULU = locally unwanted land usesNANA = not anywhere near anyoneNIABY = not in anyone's backyardNIMC = not in my constituencyNIMD = not in my districtNIMEY = not in my election yearNIMBY = not in my backyardNIMFOS = not in my field of sightNIMFYE = not in my front yard eitherNIMO = not in my oceanNIMTOO = not in my term of officeNITL = not in this lifetimeNUMBY = not under my backyardNOMH = not on my horizonNOPE = not on planet earthNOT = none of thatNOTE = not over there eitherPIITBY = put it in their backyardWIIFM = what's in it for me?

You will notice that there are far more of those sentiments than there are of the other kind:

1 comment:

"On the other hand, if you can't put solar collectors in what is arguably the ideal location for them, what are our prospects for accomplishing anything?"

I think there is non sequitur there. Just because we shouldn't place solar collectors in the Mohave Desert does not mean that we cannot accomplish "anything".

There are excellent reasons why putting enormous swaths of solar collectors in the desert is a very bad idea. That environment has real value to its current inhabitants - human and otherwise. The power that may be produced will be minimal compared to the amount of impact that the project will have and the investment - mostly from taxpayers - that would be required. Even if you built the collectors, you still have to figure out how to get the product to market, impacting lots of additional sensitive areas.

In contrast, nuclear plants have far less impact per unit of energy produced. If desired, we can even build them underground - we have been operating them underwater for more than half a century.

The benefits to the neighborhood near nuclear power plants are enough to provide a completely different cost versus benefit analysis that can overcome any disadvantages. I do not believe that is true for desert located large solar plants. (My feelings about roof mounted solar right next to consumers are different.)

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About Me

Dr. Gail H. Marcus is an independent consultant on nuclear power technology and policy. She previously worked as Deputy Director-General of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) in Paris; Principal Deputy Director of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology; in various positions at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); and as Assistant Chief of the Science Policy Research Division at the Congressional Research Service (1980-1985). Dr. Marcus spent a year in Japan as Visiting Professor in the Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and five months at Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry. Dr. Marcus has served as President of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) and as Chair of the Engineering Section of AAAS. She also served on the National Research Council Committee on the Future Needs of Nuclear Engineering Education. She is a Fellow of the ANS and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Marcus has an S.B. and S.M. in Physics, and an Sc.D. in Nuclear Engineering from MIT. She is the first woman to earn a doctorate in nuclear engineering in the United States.